So Young Gets Married

 So Young is a former RA at BFA who also was in my small group.  Five years ago on a mission trip to South Africa she met a German man named Thomas.  Over time they fell in love.  After the trip the continued to correspond and since they were not able to share their feeling for one another  during the trip, they did later.  So Young then began to work at BFA in 2008.  Thomas only lived an hour an a half away and they continued their long distance relationship.  Finally last Christmas he proposed and So Young accepted.

 So Young got ready for her German wedding celebration in my dorm.  Stephanie, the dorm mom, did her hair.  So Young and Thomas got married in Korea in the summer, but they wanted to allow their BFA and German friends to celebrate with them.

In Korean, So Young's name means small flowered wreath.  Here Stephanie is putting the final touches on So Young's hair with a small flowered wreath.

Then she got dressed in my room and I helped carry her train as she got into the car with her husband Thomas.

Here the couple addresses the audience as they share how the Lord Jesus Christ brought them together.

Belgium Excursion

My first weekend off was September 17-20!  While I was at the Avant Europe Conference, I met Willy and Sue Topps.  They live and work in Belgium and they invited me and some friends to visit.  What a great opportunity.  So we jumped in the car for the 6 hour drive.

We got a bit lost.  Anna is checking the map because the sign just said welcome to the Netherlands!!!  Hello...weren't we going to Belgium?!?  Luckily we did find Belgium.

 Here Julie is driving. Notice the GPS we are using....even with that we can get lost!  Oh the adventures of having no directional sense.  We did find Willy and Sue's home and we were able to really rest there.

Sue took us girls into Sint-Truiden, one o the small cities in Belgium.  

Here are my travel buddies:  Anna, Julie, and Amy.  

The four of us girls.  Julie, Amy, and I are all from Bluffton, Ohio and support by Saint John Mennonite Church as are Willy and Sue Topps.  Sue is a Paulding girl.  Now Anna has no connection to Ohio, but we just like her and were happy to travel with her.

 Willy is a Belgium and he is the pastor of a home church.  Here is one of the Belgium families that that goes to their home church.  At the church service, Willy preached first in English, then Flemish, and finally in French.  Pretty impressive.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon we just had to go for a walk.  Amy and Julie found some Belgium apple orchards.

Beautiful Apples!

They looked so good, I was ready to eat them right off the tree!

We noticed how similar the Belgium landscape looks like Ohio.

Here is a typical street in Belgium.  After living in Germany with all of the buildings being made of cement and wooden beams, we were impressed with the nice square brick buildings.

This is the town sign.  Willy and Sue live in Nieuwerkerken...wow that is fun to say and spell!

Northwest Ohioans connect! All of us are connected to Saint John Mennonite Church in Pandora, Ohio because that church supports all of us. 

Willy and Sue Topps!  They are an awesome and friendly couple who are so willing to open their home to us!

 The four ladies: Bonnie, Anna, Julie, and Amy.

While we were driving home, we just could not resist driving through Luxembourg!  It is a VERY SMALL country next to Belgium and France.  Oh and we got lost in the city of Luxembourg...pretty awesome.  I know this shocks nobody since I was driving!

Basel Marathon

 The Basel Marathon was on September 12th.  Stephanie, the Palm dorm Mom, ran all 26 miles.  Tommy, a RA in Sonne (boys dorm), also ran it as well as Jill, a music teacher from BFA.  So most of the students from Palmgarten and Sonne went into Basel to cheer on their staff!

 Some of the students wait for the end of the race as they lounge on the bridge that goes over the Rhein River.

Watching a marathon is a lot of patient waiting.  After walking all over the city because it was hard to find parking, we were all tired, but happy to cheer on Stephanie, Tommy, and Jill.

Tommy was the first one to come to the finish line.  His goal was to run it in 3:30, but he surprised himself  and ran it in 3:17.  He was only 82 seconds from qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

 The Finish Line

Even Santa ran the Basel Marathon...I guess he is working on losing weight.

Jill the music teacher crossed the finish line at 4:25.  

The Sonne boys get comfortable in the ancient buildings of Basel.

Happily Stephanie crosses the finish line right after Jill at 4 hours and 31 minutes.  Go Stephanie! GO!!!

The Amazing Race...HBR and Palmgarten style!

A fun activity the dorms like to do is to invite another dorm over for a fun activity.  HBR (Haus Bad Relidgen), a boys dorm, invited Palmgarten to play the Amazing Race.  The students were divided into teams with a staff to drive the van.  We drove throughout the BFA territory trying to accomplish road blocks and beat the other teams.  Someone had to eat chocolate marshmallows until they found a clue in one.  One team ate 37!!!  I prayed that the girl who was going to eat them for my team would find it in the first one she ate!  God answers prayers...in the first bite she had her clue!

Another activity was catching 5 fish with your bare hands...again my team had the boy who is gifted with all creatures and is able to capture them!  Bonus for us.

My team did not win, but we had a great time and came in 4th out 6 teams....so in the bottom half...but in my defense we did have the old clunker of a van that would not accelerate to well.

Campfires X 2

 In the backyard of the Palmgarten/Maugenhard Dorm Empire there is a very nice fire pit.  In the warmer weather, this is a favorite activity. 

Since the boys dorm, Maugenhard, is on the top two floors of the building, both dorm decided to have a joint campfire.  A time of bonding and getting to know each other...oh and did I mention flirting...yes that happened as well.

The boys and girls dorms love to intermix.  Here "C", "S", "J", and "K" enjoy each others company.  Basically the kids ate a lot of hot dogs, bratwursts, and smores.  At the end of the night each dorm gathered together to make up their dorm chant.  I am sure we were not the neighbors favorite people at 10:30 at night!

A few days later, we had a Palmgarten only campfire.

International roommates make me so happy.  "E" and "C" are roommates.  "E" is a Canadian with a Peruvian mother and a Canadian father. "C" is an American with an American mother and a French father.  Then we have "S" and "D".  They are both full blooded Koreans, but one lives in Turkey and the other lives in Jordan.

I just love these girls.   These 5 girls have passports from Korea, America, and Canada and they live in 5 other counties: two countries in the Middle East, France, Tajikistan, and Turkey. Talk about well traveled.

 "S", Taylor the RA, and "K" pose while Luke the dorm dad tries to make fire with 2 sticks.

Even if the fire with sticks thing didn't work out...at least he is the bluffest person in Palmgarten.  In the back ground, "E", "N", and "D" are so impressed.

The Palmgarten Fashin Show

 A tradition of Haus Palmgarten is to have a fashion show.  The dorm has collected a lovely variety of old banquet dresses and other similar fashion pieces.  As the RA, my job was to record and photograph these lovely ladies as the paparazzi!

 "K" gives us her "blue steel" fashion pose.  She is made for the runway!

Sporting a look not many people can pull off, "J" looks amazing!

Blue is the rage for this fashion season.  "P" and "A" give huge us smiles and the opportunity to look at their unique makeup.

This is the hippy, fairy look that "E" is wearing.  It is wonderful evening wear and will guarantee to turn heads.

                       These super models are super beautiful!  

Creativity is looked highly upon at BFA.  "J" has been able to take a shinny sheet and make it look chic!  Even though this looks like a lot of silliness...it was the activity that drew the new and returning students together.

Ice Cream & Opening Ceremonies

 The first week of school is always busy and full of fun activities.  The new students arrived a day before the returning students.  They are wide eyed and overwhelmed with a new culture, new school, new home, new language, and new friends among other things.

 Taylor, my co-RA, and I took the 11 new girls out to the Eis Cafe (Ice Cream Shop).  We also showed them around the village of Kandern. 

"D" one of our retuning seniors explains the importance of Hiebers, the local grocery store.  This is next to the school and many students come here during lunch for some fresh baked goods and candy.

Four of my new students are ready to begin their first day of school.  They have their back packs and are ready for Opening Ceremonies.

The seniors enter the auditorium caring their countries flag. Smiling "S" shows us her pearly whites and she is officially acknowledged as a senior.

The entire class of 2011 stand as they hear the charge to the seniors.  It looks like it will be a promising year.

Dutch Visitors!

 When I was just moving into the dorm during RA orientation, I received a facebook message from Dwight and Letty Grismore.  They served with me in Alaska at Echo Ranch Bible Camp and now they like in the Netherlands and serve at a NATO Base with Campus Life.  They were going on holiday to the south of France and they stopped over in Germany.  There is a camp ground just around the corner from my dorm, so they stayed there.

I was able to spend a wonderful afternoon with the Grismore family.   Here are Dwight, Letty, Reben, and David on the tower on Hoch Blauen.  From this point you can see France, Switzerland, and all of the surrounding areas...even the Alps...if it is a clear day.

Hoch Blauen is also a point where para-gliders will jump off to sail into the vast unknown. 

Up, Up and Away he goes!  Look at the beautiful country below him!

We saw quite a few para-gliders take off and feel the wind under their wings!